Such a low amount of river otters to be taken indicates to me they are still needing protection....surly there cannot be such a demand for that few pelts Thank you Bruce A Harten apple valley minnesota, frequent Idaho non res flyfisherman...elk hunter asajuice5@hotmail.com "fish barbless...catch n release"
Answer:
Not only is there a limit on otters per trapper, but there is a quota for each region. Once the quota for the region is reached, the trapping season for otters is closed. Otter trapping quotas are based on providing a harvestable surplus of a percentage of the population. We are looking at harvest of less than 5% based on best estimates. We did not want one or two trappers harvesting the entire otter quota for a region, therefore we placed a bag limit on harvest per license. Trappers are allowed to harvest 2 otters providing the quota for the region has not been met. Quotas range from 15 - 30 otters per region depending on the region. We provide trapping opportunity for a species we believe has a harvestable surplus, but do not want to overharvest the population - hence the limit and quota.
Answered on:
Wednesday, December 4, 2013 - 10:25 AM MST